FREE Download 1940s Vintage-Inspired Blouse Pattern



Why hello there!


To dive right in, I designed this vintage-inspired blouse, made multiple blouses for myself with it, and now would like to share it with you!  To begin, go ahead and download the pattern here → Blouse Pattern



Now this pattern was drafted for measurements of 34" Bust, 26" Waist, and 39" Hip, so if this size won't fit you, tune in to my next blog post for a tutorial on how to grade this pattern to any size!

Now onto the sewing instructions!



A couple of general notes first:
  • All seams are sewn with a 5/8" seam allowance unless otherwise specified
  • You can use woven or knit fabric with this pattern, but make sure fabric is pre-shrunk


Materials needed:
  • 1 1/4 yards of Fabric (More if matching patterns and stripes)
  • Chalk or Fabric Marker
  • Buttons
  • Thread
  • Scissors
  • Sewing Pins
  • Iron/Ironing Board

1. You will begin by ironing your fabric, laying out the pattern pieces, and cutting them all out.  You may notice that not all of my pieces match, and that is because I only had 1 1/8 yards of the fabric, and fortunately had another fabric to use.  What you might call a "happy accident".


2. Mark all darts and sew.  My preferred method of doing this is first taking a sewing pin and poking holes all along the dart line.  I then place the pattern piece back on the fabric and apply chalk on top of the holes.  I then remove the pattern and use the chalk as a guideline for my basting.  I run stitches along both sides of the dart, pull the thread tight, and then knot off.  I then stitch the darts in place by machine.  Even though this takes a couple extra steps, I find my darts are much more even and precise this way.


3. After the darts, you pin and then sew together the shoulder seams and side seams with the right sides together.  Then you will iron your darts towards the center and your seams open.  There are multiple ways you can finish your seams to prevent them from unraveling.  For this blouse, I chose to pink the edges, but you could also do french seams, hong kong seams, use bias tape, or a serger.

4. Next, you will sew the underarm seam on the sleeves.  Take the sleeve hem pieces and sew the 2 sides together along the long edge.  Then fold into a tube and sew the short side.  Then you will sew gathering stitches along the bottom edge of the sleeve, and gather the sleeve to fit the sleeve hem, pinning in place.


5. Now turn the sleeve hem so the raw edges are inside the sleeve and fold the edge over by 5/8".  Either whipstitch in place by hand or topstitch by machine.  (I chose to sew by hand so I could continue to watch the Office.)

6. Gather the top edge of the sleeve and match underarm seams.  The notch at the top matches with the shoulder seam.  Pin and then stitch in place.  I finished this edge by pinking as well.

7. Now for the collar.  Take the collar ties and with right sides together sew around the long edges of the ties to make a sealed-off tube. Trim and clip the end, turn inside out, and then iron.

8. This next part is a little tricky.  What we are looking for is for the collar to curve downward and meet the tie with seam allowance to sew the collar to the shirt.  You want to line up the collar tie 5/8" above the edge of the collar, collar pieces right sides together, but when you sew, follow the curve of the collar.  Then turn collar right sides out.

9. Turning back to the blouse, you will turn the front edge under by 1" and then 1" again.

10. Now you will pin one side of the collar and the right side of the neckline together and then stitch in place
11.  Now fold the edge of the blouse fabric that will become the button placket over by 1/4" twice.  Then turn in the free edge of the collar in by 5/8" and pin in place.  Either sew this in place by hand or topstitch.

12. Top stitch along the edges of the button placket.  Fold the hem of the blouse twice by 1/2" and either whipstitch or topstitch.


13. I did not provide marking for buttons and buttonholes with this pattern, as personally I never know what size or number of buttons I'm working with and it can vary with every blouse you make.  The buttonholes are vertical with this pattern, though.  (I did not have any buttons on hand to finish this step, but you understand.)


14. And you are finished!  Congratulations on completing your new blouse! Now that you have finished this pattern, try adding different details like different sleeves or a different collar.  The possibilities are endless!

Again, my next post will be on drafting this pattern to a different size, so stick around for that!
If I was unable to clearly explain or describe a particular step, please leave a comment and I will do my best to better explain.

Thank you so much for following along!

 Till next time! ♥️

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Pillow Lounger DIY

Image
So as you may or may not know, my husband and I had our first baby back in November and it has changed our lives forever, in all the best ways.  My little one is the joy of my life and all he wants to do his cuddle with me all day and night, unfortunately not allowing me to do such things as eat, fold laundry, etc... and I needed a spot to lay him down where he would still feel held.  Enter this pillow!  Inspired by luxury baby pillows online, this is the low budget version, which you will see by the materials needed. *DISCLAIMER* Use lounger at your own risk. Never leave child unsupervised. Materials: 2 pillowcases and 1 pillow, needle, pins, thread, scissors,  ruler, iron, ironing board and (optional) sewing machine. Yes. That is it. Start by flipping the pillow case inside out and ironing. Then using a ruler mark 6 1/2 inches from each corner and mark a square. Using the inner mark as a fulcrum, mark 6 1/2 inches away in an arc. Pencil the lin
Read more

FREE Download American Girl Doll Cape

Image
I created this pattern as a small scale mock-up for a life-size pattern, but it just turned out too cute not to share!  I have the pattern for you to download here →  American Girl Doll Cape Pattern List of Materials: Fabric (approximately half a yard total) Thread Needles/Sewing Machine Scissors Sewing Pins Closure of choice 1. First things first you will lay out the pattern on your fabric and cut out the pieces.  This cape has 2 layers, so if you would like a contrasting lining, every piece will be cut out of your fashion fabric and your lining fabric.  For this example, I used the same fabric for both layers. 2. Next, you will connect each "side" piece to the front or back pieces.  First, you will line up the straight edge of the shoulder and the end of the curve of the side piece. Then you will line up the straight edges at the end. You will follow along with the straight edges up towards the curve and then ease around the cur
Read more

FREE Download Regency Historical Baby Dress Pattern (0-3 month)

Image
      I knew as soon as my son was born that I wanted to share my love of history and fashion with him and wanted to start making him his own outfits!  Not knowing how quickly he would grow or how often he would be able to wear it, I set out to find an example of a very simple dress.  I came across this image from the  Philadelphia Museum of Art  of an 1813 Boy's Dress and I got to work recreating it!  Now I did not do all of the gorgeous white work embroidery this time, but I hope to do some embellishment in the future.  So first things first, download here  →   Pattern You will need for this dress: half a yard of at least 44" wide fabric 2 yards of 1/2" bias tape 2 yards of cord or ribbon sewing notions 1. Begin by cutting out your fabric pieces, placing on the correct folds so when finished your piece looks like this: 2. Line up the center notch of the sleeves with either the center shoulder mark or optional shoulder seam and stitch with a 5/8" seam allowance. 3.
Read more